about nine a.m., and
the rays of the sun, proceeding from a cloudless sky, were very
powerful; but a short distance brought us within the cool shade of the
dense forest which skirts the sides of the Corcovado, and through which
our path lay. In the valley we saw some very large trees of a
thorny-stemmed Bombax, but they were then destitute both of
leaves and flowers, nearly all the trees of this tribe being deciduous.
There we also passed under the shade of a very large solitary tree
which overhangs the road, and is well known by the name of the Pao
Grande. It is the Jequetibd of the Brazilians, and the Couratari legalis of
Martius. Considerably further up, and on the banks of a small stream
that descends from the mountain, we found several curious Borstenias, and many delicate species of Ferns. We also added here to our collections fine specimens of the Tree-fern (TricAopteris excelsa), which
was the first of the kind I had yet seen. The forests here exhibited
all the characteristics of tropical vegetation. The rich black soil,
which has been forming for centuries in the broad ravines from the
decay of leaves, &c, is covered with herbaceous ferns, Borstenias, Heliconias, Begonias, and
other plants which love shade and humidity; while above these rise the
tall and graceful Tree-ferns, and the noble Palms, the large leaves of
which tremble in the slightest breeze. But it is the gigantic forest
trees themselves which produce the strongest impression on the mind of
a stranger. How I felt the truth of the observation of Humboldt, that,
when a traveller newly arrived from Europe penetrates for the first
time into the forests of South America, nature presents itself to him
under such an unexpected aspect, that he can scarcely distinguish what
most excites his admiration, the deep silence of those solitudes, the
individual beauty and contrast of forms, or that vigour and freshness
of vegetable life which characterize the climate of the tropics.* What
first claims attention is the great size of the trees, their thickness,
and the height to which they rear their unbranched stems. Then, in
place of the few mosses and lichens which cover the trunks and boughs
of the forest trees of temperate climes, here they are bearded from the
roots to the very * Personal Narrative, vol. iii. p. 3fi.
